Tempting the taste buds - Indian and International cuisine for people who love food and cooking!!

May 3, 2008

Strawberry pinwheel cookies

Blogging has definitely renewed my interest in baking and cooking. Before starting this blog, I used to cook out of necessity, doing just enough to go by. Nowadays, I cook or bake something everyday. JM is now so used to sampling new treats, he assumes that I would make something interesting everyday. But for the past few days, I was not in a mood to do anything, so my kitchen was taking a breather. Eventhough JM didnt say anything specific, he hinted about missing the treats! Yesterday, I decided to make these cookies because they look very attractive. Once I started assembling the cookies I doubted my decision because it was taking longer than I expected, but somehow finished the entire dough. When JM came in from work and suddenly saw these yummy cookies on the counter waiting for him and his face lit up. Its for these moments that I bake, that smile made it worth the time I spent shaping them !! :-) We were taking pictures of the cookies and suddenly I remembered that I had forgotten to brush the cookies with butter before baking. Ooops!! But nevertheless, they were really tasty and could be considered a bit healthier, couldnt they?! It takes a bit of time to shape the cookies, but make for a good presentation! Happy baking everybody!

Recipe (Makes 32 cookies):

All-purpose flour - 1 2/3 cups

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/8 tsp

Butter - 1/3 cup, softened

Cream cheese - 1/3 cup, softened

Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup

Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Egg - 1, large

Apricot or peach preserves - 3-4 tbsp

Butter - 1-2 tbsp, melted

Pistachios - 2 tbsp, finely chopped

Method:

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, neat the butter, cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy.

Add the vanilla and egg to the butter mixture and beat until just blended.

Mix in the dry ingredients to form a smooth dough.

Divide the dough in half.

Press each half into dics and wrap in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Set two cookie sheets aside.

Roll out each disc into a 10" square on a lightly floured surface.

Cut each of these squares into 2 1/2" squares.

Drop 1/2 tsp of preserve into the centre of each smaller square.

Cut 1" diagonal slits from each corner of the smaller square.

Fold alternate corners from the slits to the centre to make a pinwheel (windmill) shape.

Sprinkle the preserves and the centre with chopped pistachios, pressing down to seal.

Gently transfer the cookies to the baking sheet using a spatula, placing them about 1 1/2" apart.

Brush with melted butter.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and the edges are firm.

Rotate the baking sheets halfway through for even baking.

Cool on the cookies sheets until firm enough to be transferred to cooling racks.

Thanks Srilekha, Skribles, EC and Trupti!

Thanks Vani, EC and Trupti

Thanks Trupti and Sireesha

Thanks Trupti and Sireesha!

Thanks Su and Ramya

Thanks Ramya

Thanks Ivy!

Humble beginnings!

I became a fan of cooking blogs when I came to the US because I suddenly found myself to be a home-maker with little knowledge of cooking and a lot of free time on my hands. After a couple of years and experimenting with a lot of food, I started thinking about my own blog!!! But doubting my writing skills, I have been pushing it back for some time. But with a bit of encouragement from one of my close friends and a boosting jolt from my husband, I decided not to wait any further. I hope that everybody will enjoy going through and trying out the recipes.

When I first started depending on the Internet for my cooking, I came across many wonderful recipe sites and cooking blogs!! One thing I realised is that since we are being offered a lot of different versions of a single recipe on the net, we will be more inclined to try out the recipes if we know that the recipe has passed somebody else's cooking test ! A picture of the dish will definitely go a long way to aid our decision. My objective with the blog is to post some of my original recipes along with the recipes from the net that I have chosen after trying out a few of the choices available. In the case of recipes taken from the other sites or books, the actual source will be posted along with the recipe, with the tips that I found to be useful. I sincerely hope that my blog will be a further incentive for everybody to experiment with the already popular dishes ! Please post your comments so that I can improve and evolve the blog into something which will help others who need a bit of inspiration for their cooking.